Bomb scare at Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro

Classes at the Engineering Building of Xavier University were suspended for four hours after school authorities got wind of an alleged bomb threat within its premises Tuesday.

City Police Director Honorio Cervantes maps out the moves to be carried out by the explosives ordnance disposal (EOD) team at the XU engineering building, which was reported to contain a bomb Tuesday. (Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro/Joey Nacalaban)

Cagayan police along with K9 units from the military scoured the building, but found nothing.

Get the full scoop at SunStar Cagayan de Oro.

Leyte-Mindanao Power Transmission Project now back online

National Transmission Corp (Transco) has announced that it is reviving a project to interconnect the power grids between Leyte and Mindanao. The project had earlier been shelved due to budgetary constraints.

Transco President Alan Ortiz said:

“It makes better economic sense now to push through with the project because of the high world oil prices,”

He said that plans to develop the Cabalian geothermal facility, which could provide an additional 130 megawatts, could also be revived to serve as one of Mindanao’s power sources.

This is good news for Mindanao, given the potential power problems that this blog reported on earlier this month.

Funds released for North Cotabato Rubber program

As we reported last week, Rubber is the new business being promoted in North Cotabato. Now, in today’s edition of SunStar Davao, they are reporting that the government has released P5 Million to fund the growth of rubber there.

UNDERSECRETARY Jesus Benamira of the Department of Agriculture brought good news to the people of North Cotabato when he announced the release of P5 million as initial support fund for the provincial government’s rubber development program.

Benamira, who represented Agriculture Secretary Domingo Panganiban as guest speaker at the opening of the weeklong celebration of North Cotabato’s 91st foundation anniversary Saturday, hailed the gains of the Provincial Government in the fight against poverty.

From being one of the five poorest provinces in the country in 1998, North Cotabato is now a favorite investment area for big agribusiness companies in Central Mindanao.

The province is also the region’s leader in jobs generation with almost 70 thousand jobs created through the influx of investments in the past three years.

It sounds like things are moving well with the rubber program, and other programs that have been initiated in the Province! 70,000 new jobs in the past 3 years is a goal that is worth talking about! And, it seems that this is just the beginning. More power to North Cotabato!

Bomb blast in Arakan, North Cotabato, Mindanao

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) 6th Infantry Division is in search of suspected Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) members after a bomb exploded in front of a bakeshop in Bomb blast in Arakan, North Cotabato, Mindanao on Monday night at 9pm.

There were no reported injuries in the incident, although the backshop did suffer damage in the blast.

Helping Bomb Blast Victims

A man helps a nurse Monday, Aug 29, 2005, at a Zamboanga City hospital, while she attends to one of more than 30 ferry bomb blast victims in Basilan island in the southern Philippines. The Abu Sayyaf group, which is tied to Al-Qaeda network, is believed behind the blast Sunday on the lower deck of the ferry M/V Dona Ramona. (Sunnex photo/Al Jacinto)